MarketingShift Online Marketing Blog

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Wikipedia Gets Competition from Google, Doctors

I love Wikipedia, but I've been trusting it less lately because I've been reading what's been going on behind the scenes.

It's never been a definitive source for me. I've always used other sources for back-up verification unless I'm watching Battlestar Galactica (the re-envisioned series, NOT the original) and wanted to know who might be the Fifth Cylon (if you don't understand that last part, just Wiki it).

Not everyone is enamored with the collaborative encyclopedia though, which prompted two competitors in the space.

Google launched an expert-driven site, which will not allow anonymous contributions, that it hopes will be Wikipedia 2.0. Ironically, you can read all about the project here at Wikipedia.

The project was announced at the end of last year with at least one goal: make a more definitive human encyclopedia that sidestepped some of the personal grudge-match fights that go on behind the scenes at Wikipedia.

Of course, we live in a niche-centric world these days so it's not surprising that another Wiki project -- this one from the medical field -- launched as well to give people a more accurate description of what's ailing them. The MedPedia Project aims to get the most accurate information from the best sources to give all of us a place to go to find out information about medical problems.

Underlying both projects though is the belief that Wikipedia has become untrustworthy -- at least in perception -- because of the anonymous nature of some of those who post.

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